The Vague Sensation of Shock
by AsphorFell
Summary: Enji Todoroki had never been so shaken as when he'd heard the screaming from his kitchen. or: Enji realizes his fuck ups earlier than canon and tries to fix them, with varying degrees of success.
1. Chapter 1

**So this got started when I found the following prompt on the bnha kink meme:**

**I love fics where Rei leaves and takes the kids with her, but that's not what I want today.**

**I want to see Enji coming into the kitchen to his wife screaming, his youngest son injured and realizing how badly he's fucked up.**

**I want him getting Rei the help she needs and trying to figure out how to be a better parent while still being a hero. Maybe he gets counseling. Then he's realizing all the little things that have just been piling up in the corners that he's caused.**

**TLDR:**

**I just want Endeavor to try, really try, at raising his kids better.**  
**-**

**And it got me thinking. See, I have complicated feelings where Endeavor's concerned. I grew up in an emotionally and mentally abusive house. But my parents got better. I'm not making excuses; what they did and how they treated me was fucked up, and likewise, I'm still recovering. But abusers can change. Sometimes, rarely. But they're people, and people have that capacity.**

**As far as I can tell, Endeavor is currently trying to be a better person. If he is indeed being a manipulative fuck, then this will really be an AU and I'll have to settle with that.**

**With that said, I love fics where he gets called out for his behavior and gets bashed. But I felt like something different.**

* * *

Enji Todoroki was not a man prone to emotion.

He prided himself on his ability to place a distance between what he felt and how he acted.

But, sitting in the waiting room of the hospital, waiting for news on his son and his wife, Enji became acutely aware of the difference between ignoring how you felt and the complete abscense of feeling in a new, horrifying way.

Shock, his brain supplied helpfully.

He'd seen it in civilians, the complete shut down to prevent mental overload or to ignore a debilitating injury. He'd never...never imagined this.

Sitting there, waiting for word from anyone, Enji Todoroki realized that his hands were shaking.

He was Endeavor, the Number 2 Hero (and no matter how much that title stung, there was nothing professionally wrong with it. Many would kill to be in his position). His home was his fortress. The sounds of screaming had made him think that a villain (a very stupid, soon to be dead villain) had somehow found him and targeted his home. He'd come running, burning in all his glory, only to find his son on the floor, writhing in pain and screaming, Rei frantically struggling against Touya and Fuyumi as she sobbed, Natsuo on the phone with the paramedics. Rei struggled like an angry cat, and Enji had been the one to take over and try and separate her from their son.

Her panic had turned to blind fury in a moment, and she'd fought him.

She'd screamed and clawed at him, ice vaporizing as quickly as she could materialize it.

"You did this! It's your fault! You drove me to this!"

In their years of marriage, Rei had stood against him before. She'd spoken out, she'd argued, but it was quiet sort of rebellion, comparable to a shack before a hurricane. Her stands were brief, silent, and ultimately to no avail. But she'd never raised a hand or quirk against him.

But today, the look in her eyes was that of a mad dog.

So there they were; Shouto in the pediatric ward, Rei in psychiatric (sedated to the gills for now, but slated for evaluation the moment she was lucid) and Enji here.

All he could hear was static, behind that the low thumping of his own heartbeat. There was a sinking sensation, and the feeling that he locked in place, unable to move, despite watching the trembling of his fingers.

Absently, Enji realized that it was helplessness.

It was an alien feeling by now.

Enji Todoroki hadn't felt helpless since the dark days of his childhood, and it was something he'd never imagined feeling again.

Desperately, he found himself trying to turn away from that uncomfortable realization, but his mind was only going in circles, touching on the same things from new, worsening angles.

The kitchen, the veneer of safety shattered, then the ambulance, watching Shouto as he was looked over. He'd never realized just how small the boy was until he was looking at the 6 year old on the gurney, pale with pain and flinching from the medics.

* * *

Shouto's eye was fine.

(It was the left side, of course it was fine-)

He'd have scarring, but his vision wasn't impaired.

So his son was fine.

But his wife was not.

Psychotic break was an ugly term but it had been uglier to witness. Her violent mania had receeded into a quiet catatonia, interspersed with uncontrollable sobbing.

"It will take time," the doctor promised, "but we can help her." And Enji could only take him at his word.

Mental health was unfamiliar territory. In Enji's world you didn't get sick; any weakness was a challenge to overcome. Any emotion that wasn't productive, any feeling, was to be dismissed and ignored. Confronted by something that he couldn't fight or ignore, he was at a loss of what to do.

He didn't stop and see her before he took the boy home.

* * *

In the following days, the house was quiet. Enji had hoped that they could go on without acknowledging the ugliness of the last few days, and pretend that nothing had happened.

At first, it seemed that he might get his wish. Fuyumi had taken up Rei's place in keeping the house running, and Enji couldn't find much fault with what she was doing. Things ran smooth, Fuyumi never overstepped her bounds, and she didn't talk about it.

Shouto, however, was less adjusted. And Enji had expected it. He'd braced himself for a breakdown that could be handled, for a tantrum, though the boy had never been one for throwing fits. What he hadn't been prepared for was the boy's unnerving stillness and silence. He said nothing, looked through everyone, existing inside his own head, only an empty shell. It was unnerving. He wandered about the house like a ghost, silently, mechanically.

He'd get over it, recover. Pain was a foothold to becoming better, getting stronger.

It all went to hell at lunch.

Fuyumi made the meal under Enji's eye, they all sat at the table, Touya stared his father down with the flat stare of a man who had nothing to lose, while Natsuo kept quiet, gaze darting from person to person. Shouto was there only in body.

Then the tea kettle began to scream.

Enji saw it in slow motion:

He saw his youngest go pale as bone, as if he'd been injured, saw his pupil contract into a pinprick, and open his mouth in a scream that sounded more animal than human. As everyone startled, Shouto threw himself away from the table, still screaming as he scrambled away.

The kettle kept tune with him.

Fuyumi fumbled, caught between trying to comfort her brother, or turning off the burner, hands paused in midair. Touya was the one to vault over the table and rush to the stove, removing the kettle and dumping it in the sink.

Enji could only take it all in, watching his family with the eyes of a man looking at a living nightmare.

He saw Shouto, sobbing, flinching and too small, bandaged, shrinking from Natsuo's awkward attempts at comfort. Natsuo, too pale, not strong enough, unsure of what to say. Fuyumi, scared and shaken, eyes darting from him to her brothers as she carefully made her way to them, trying to take over, flanked by Touya, his silence accusatory, not turning his back on his father.

(Hadn't that been the first lesson that Endeavor had beaten into him? Never allow your enemy weakness-

Oh.

Enji's hands were shaking again)

He walked out.


	2. Chapter 2

**So I'm not gonna lie and say that there's gonna be a lot of change immediately, because that isn't how it goes when abusers try and reform.**

**With that said, Enji is going to try and take some steps forward, after this chapter.**

**This chapter is mostly him trying and failing to justify the shit he's pulled and, in typical douchebag fashion (because that's what he is, tbh), how he's gonna fix this.**

* * *

Enji Todoroki was not a man given to sentimentality.

It was counterproductive in his line of work. It slowed you down, made you hesitate, madeyou weak. As a pro hero, that wasn't something that Enji could afford.

It was dangerous.

(But in his desk drawer, beneath several pads of paper, is a picture of Rei and their children, taken shortly after Shouto had been born. It's location means that Enji will see it when he's working overnights doing deskwork, a thing that's becoming rarer and rarer the longer he stays in his position- people count on him, they don't need him at a desk.

But it's still there)

* * *

Enji retreated into his office, faced with the truth that this wasn't something that he could fix. Shouto didn't trust him enough that coming to his aide would be of any help. Besides, Enji, tried to brush off, he wasn't the one for the task. Comforting them, keeping them quiet, that was Rei's duty-

But Rei wasn't here.

He knew that.

Enji knew where she was, had an unbelievable amount of paperwork to prove it.

But it hadn't been driven home until this moment, because right now Enji was the only parent his children had.

Fuyumi was a child trying to shoulder everything. Touya, broken, sickly Touya, watched him like he was a beast ready to snap his chain. Weak, awkard Natsuo, dismissed before the boy had known what he'd done to deserve his father's scorn. And Shouto...seeing ghosts and inside his own head...so powerful, but, Enji remembered with a sour tang in his mouth, so fucking scared.

And in all of this, Enji was helpless.

("You did this!")

He did

("It's your fault!")

It was

("You drove me to this!")

And he had, hadn't he?

It had never been a question in his own mind if Enji was a good father. He was a hero, one of the best, he fought evil, shouldn't that be enough? Didn't that speak for his character?

Everything that Enji did, he did for a purpose.

His hero name wasn't an accident.

He was determined, willful and headstrong. When he had a goal in mind (and there was always a goal, always something to work towards, to overcome, to be better at) he pursued it with enough force and dedication as was necessary until he'd succeeded.

His quest to become #1 hero was far from his first. But it was the longest lasting. Long enough that Enji himself had to stop pursuing it and actually look around him, see the forest for the trees.

A part of him, an uncomfortably large part of him, wanted to shut this train of thought down right now and go back to ignoring all of it.

Because if he was angry, well didn't he have a right to be angry? Didn't he have enough to do, and now this had happened? If he lashed out every now and then, they were his children, he provided for them, they lived under his roof and he had enough to deal with without having to cater to children-

There were as many excuses for Enji's behavior as he could take the time to think of why it wasn't acceptable.

And excuses, in Enji's book, were unacceptable.

* * *

Enji spent the night drinking and looking things up on the internet. It wasn't a good night.

Everything that he searched; his children's reactions, his treatment of them, all pointed toward abuse and it infuriated him.

He didn't abuse his children!

He provided for them, didn't he? They never went hungry, they had clothes on their backs, they were safe, they were stable- except they weren't anymore, were they? Rei's breakdown proved that.

If he neglected them, well, they weren't right. Shouto was destined to reach great heights, heights only he was capable of. Heights that the others weren't. And if you wanted to be a hero, you needed to push yourself, you had to be the best. And if you wanted to be a pro hero you had to be better than the best, you had to be a god. He was helping Shouto in the long run, and one day the child would realize it and thank him.

Wouldn't he?

If he'd asked himself that question a few months ago Enji knew the answer would have been "why does it matter?"

But it did matter.

It mattered because if you couldn't justify your actions than you shouldn't be doing them. And damn it all if his justifications, which had seemed so rock solid not too long ago were like wet paper, shredding under the weight of his own realizations.

Unwillingly, he thought further down the line, about his children's futures.

Except he didn't know what to think, because he didn't know them.

He'd never cared enough to know them.

What did that say about him?

They'd never been his problem before, and now they were.

(He had to acknowledge that they didn't need to be his problem even now, either. He could get a housekeeper, more staff to cover the gaps caused by Rei's absence.

He know that he could.

But that was the easy way out.

Enji didn't take the easy way out)

* * *

He needed air, needed to move.

Enji found himself walking around the silent house. It was late, the children were in bed. They should have been.

But there was Shouto, looking confused.

"Where is mother?"

Enji paused, looking at the bandage across his son's eye.

"Your mother is sick. She's gone to get better." He found himself saying. He watched Shouto mull it over, frowning. Enji rested a heavy hand on his shoulder. "It's late, boy, go to bed."

Shouto went without question.

* * *

**Explanation time!**

**This chapter got a little personal for me, I'm not gonna lie.**

**Enji reminds me, uncomfortably, of my dad. I was never physically abused (at least not on the regular- I've been hit hard enough to make my teeth rattle because I backtalked). But My dad had these unbelievably high expectations for me and held me to them. If I underperformed, and I did, I was shamed, humiliated and torn down.**

**Like I said, they've apologized, they're getting help, but the shit that he said and how he made me feel still haunts me.**

**But a lot of Enji's justifications came from what I see in him, and conversations I've had with my dad about how he treated me. They aren't justifications, I want to make that clear- they're shit excuses, and that is the point.**

**But anyway, currently, a lot of Enji's motivations are sort of selfish, because he is a selfish character. He's going to be a better father because that's what he wants, but it'll become deeper as this goes on, I promise.**

**His first change was how he phrased things to Shouto regarding Rei, which I thought was a good start: he's not gonna outwardly admit that he was wrong, because that destroys his authority, but he's using it as a foothold to do better.**

**I'm personally on board with the headcanon that Dabi/Touya was fairly sickly as a kid because of his quirk combined with his body not being able to handle it. More will be touched on after this chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Behold, the fruit of my labors!**

**Again, this got personal because I handled the shit at my house the way Fuyumi did- by being an emotional support animal and general counselor. I feel like with people who grew up in emotionally unstable houses there's a weird language we all speak and a thousand rules that differ from house to house that can change on a dime, so I tried to include some of that here. jfc, I need to be careful or this is gonna turn into a therapy fic.**

* * *

Fuyumi's first clue that something was going on with their father was when he announced at breakfast that they were going to tour Shouto's school after the meal, so they needed to get their things ready and get moving because the appointment was in an hour and a half.

(Come to think of it, things had been weird around the house lately. Ever since...since Mom, Father had been acting different. When he wasn't at work, he was in his office, or else around. He didn't drag Shouto to train anymore. He wasn't acting like himself)

The changes were making her nervous)

"School?" Shouto repeated quietly. The fugue was finally going away, but Fuyumi wasn't sure how much of it was from shock and how much of it had been Father.

"Yes. I've enrolled you and we're going to tour the building and meet your teachers. Finish eating and get ready to leave." The tone of voice and customary order was familiar, but it was still weird.

"He's up to something." Touya said quietly, not looking up from his food. Touya was good at that- he could have a whole conversation without moving his lips, and you'd never know. Natsuo nodded, and she agreed. This wasn't like him.

In Fuyumi's house, routine was everything. Father liked things a certain way, and it was in everyone's best interest to follow that. Father liked his tea at exactly 7 pm after dinner. He didn't like Natsuo bothering him. Touya was ignored. Fuyumi was the buffer between all of them, and she was finally finding the middle ground. But lately the routine had been upset, and it was leaving her twisted up in knots inside. Lately Father had been joining them for meals, going out of his way to be around them all. It had everyone on edge.

So they ate in silence and got ready to leave, the silent thought bubble shared by all of them being why did he want all of them to come? Shouto stood awkwardly with his siblings until Natsuo pulled him into the figurative fold through conversation.

Getting into the car with all of them and riding in the backseat is a surreal feeling, and Fuyumi found herself looking around the car, checking for any sign of dreaming. But reality was where she sat.

"I thought tutors would nurture Shouto's talents better." Touya finally cut the quiet. You could feel the air being sucked out of the car at that question, and Fuyumi could only bring herself to feel fear and faint spike of irritation towards her brother.

Damn it Touya, he couldn't wait until they weren't stuck in the car without an exit.

But Father didn't shout, didn't backhand Touya fast enough and with the intensity of a striking cat, so hard that his head bounced off the window.

("Of course he didn't," Touya snapped later that night, the two of them sequestered in her room to discuss the new developments with the intensity of a war council, "we were in public, Fu.")

"And attending school can develop different skills." Father said, after taking several breaths. His eyes stayed trained on the road.

Why wasn't he getting angry?

Touya wised up to the look she gave him and didn't push the envelope for the rest of the drive.

* * *

Shouto's new school was private and expensive, like the rest of theirs.

They got a tour and picked up his schedule, then were introduced to the principal and the Shouto's teacher and other grown ups that were just so proud to meet Father and have the honor of teaching her brother.

Shouto was a little overwhelmed by it all, Fuyumi could tell, even if no one else did (except maybe Touya. Touya was good at picking up cues like that). He might not hide his face in her leg or turn bright red or burst into tears like a normal kid, but his eyes clicked from one thing to another with frightening speed, and his head was nearly on a swivel taking it all in. Loud noises, be it sudden shouts from the playground, the sound of a slamming door made his fingers twitch. But his nervousness didn't show outwardly, and that was the important thing.

Appearances were always the important thing.

But it was a nice school; despite being private it still had that smell that came with school for younger years, the smell of paints and the dust on the floor and glue. It's a nice smell, a homey smell- and it makes Fuyumi think of before, when she and Touya were the only ones in the house, briefly, and things weren't so awful. Of course, now there's different degrees of awful, and just being in the same house with Father is generally just a testament to how much bullshit you can deal with before either he gets tired and ignores you or sends you away.

Fuyumi shut that thought down before it could fully take root.

The tour didn't last long, maybe 3 hours and that's being generous. Shouto was starting tomorrow, soon enough that she could see how that wound him up deep inside just by how tightly he held her hand and kept looking up at her for reassurance. She could only smile back at him.

(But why did Father bring all of them along with him? It didn't make sense, it wasn't what Father did. Shouto was his son, Fuyumi and her brothers were extras. He gave them what they needed to live, but that was the extent of it. He just didn't take them places.)

They leave with a folder full of papers and information and everyone on edge for one reason or another.

And then as they're climbing back in the car Father took a deep breath and said, "well, what do you think Shouto?"

"It doesn't matter what I think." Shouto said with a very quiet sort of certainty, and Fuyumi could smell melted plastic.

They go home and Father shut himself in his office again until it was time for him to go to work.

* * *

**I actually had to rewrite this from the ground up, like, 3 times?**

**See this chapter was literally just focused on the kids realizing that the winds are changing. And that's a vague concept. So my original idea was Fuyumi waking up to the smell of something burning and running into the kitchen to find Enji in an apron burning pancakes and cursing. Enjoy that image, because I am. But I thought that was too much.**

**So then it turned into everyone going to school, because I thought they were all homeschooled. Then I realized that didn't make sense. Because if they were all home, yes that would have been a greater amount of control and Enji would have been able to keep all that he did under wraps. But Tou, Fu and Natsu are all at school then the greater divide between the siblings is bigger. It would also account for how it would have been harder to be near them if they were out of the house- and I guarantee you they were in all the clubs they could be in.**

**I wound up actually brainstorming this with a couple of guys from my DnD group (special thanks to Rice and Andrew btw, you guys rock) and in doing so I managed to get some more cool chapter ideas worked out!**

**But yeah, what I didn't include here was the emo music montage of Enji frantically doing research on how to undo all this shit and deciding to tackle it head on via letting his emotionally scarred and freshly traumatized kid loose on the world.**

**Please comment and tell me what you think! If you've got ideas for this drop em in the comments or leave me a message on my tumblr ( elandvary), I'd love to hear your opinions!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So, sorry about the delay, stuff happened and I had trouble getting the actual chapter finished.**

**My desktop broke so I had to get a laptop because I can't afford to replace it yet, then some stuff happened at home and then I got sucked back into the yandere trope again.**

Chapter Text

It was going to be a long night, Enji realized belatedly. One of the heroes working under him had a family emergency and had to miss his shift, so Enji was working over, covering Prismatic's route. He'd been hoping that Shatter and her new intern Slipstream would be available to at least cut the work in half and make it more manageable. No such luck tonight though, he'd found, frustratingly enough.

After Rei's hospitalization he'd taken some time off to settle things at home, unusual or him, but no one commented on it. After he'd returned to work though he'd been trying to stick to a regular schedule so that he could make it home to dinner with his children every night. Stability was important in the development of children after all. So he'd tried to be at home for dinner, tried to call to make sure that everyone was at home and safe- it had started out as a chore but somehow Fuyumi wound up talking, and he'd not stopped her.

He missed that call for the first time in 3 weeks that night.

It was strange, how much that unsettled him. Enji was willing to chalk it up to the disturbance of his schedule.

Agitation twitched beneath his skin. He wanted to burn things, to run, to work it out- it had been building and building, and sometimes all he could do not to lose his temper was to bite his own tongue or even flare his flames in silent warning(and he couldn't even do the latter in the house anymore, seeing how it had made Touya flinch). Tonight he was foisting part of the blame on the weather- lousy was a poor word for it. It had been pissing rain for hours now and the night was chill.

He'd let himself go soft these past few weeks, he mused poisonously. He'd had no problem skipping dinners or staying out of the house before, had used those denials and that irritation as an internal weapon; look what I've given up in the line of duty, why haven't you seen why I deserve to be best? But now that indignation felt empty.

Now he was mostly thinking about how unbothered Fuyumi had been by the news he wouldn't be home for dinner. Not that she'd been cheerful, but there hadn't disappointment, or sadness or anything. And when had that been something he'd ever been concerned about?

He didn't want to think about it, used it to fuel him on.

Maybe he should have seen it coming, in retrospect.

Using anger to push forward wasn't a good way to deal with that aggression. Especially not when you had a fire quirk.

Enji found a purse snatcher: he heard a shout, saw the boy running and bolted after. It was ridiculous, and his pride swelled: he was Endeavor, he shouldn't be dealing with something so mundane as a fucking purse snatcher. The snatcher was loaded down with the handbag and a large backpack.

The thief was fast, faster than Endeavor, who focused on power mostly. But sometimes the best thing you could do was stay on the trail, and soon enough he'd ducked into an alleyway and got himself cornered.

In desperation, the thief hurled spikes at him. Enji retaliated with a blast of Hellfire.

What he didn't expect was an explosion and sudden screaming.

* * *

Natsuo liked to watch Fuyumi make dinner.

It wasn't like when Mom did it, hurried an nervous. Well, at first it was. But not anymore. Now she'd gotten the hang of everything it was like watching a complicated dance. She moved quickly, smoothly, always knowing where to go d what to do. The first time Yumi made dinner, she'd been nervous and hesitant- had to keep checking her recipe card to make sure she was doing it right. She'd been a moth fluttering frantically in the light. Now she'd got the hang of it.

Natsuo would sit in the kitchen with all his siblings and do his homework with Shouto and Touya and watch Fuyumi. Touya would eventually get annoyed at watching his sister doing everything, so he'd try to help, but Fuyumi didn't like having him underfoot- she said he got in the way and usually made him stir stuff, or else just get the plates and bowls out.

This was is favorite time of the day, when he could just be around his brothers and sister and enjoy their company. He didn't have to sit still if he wanted, or keep quiet if he thought of something funny. He was doing even better in school now, even though the environment he was working in was 'disruptive'.

Since Shouto was going to school now Dad "wasn't a fucking noose around his neck", according to Touya. So he got to be around them all again, and Natsuo got to be a big brother- not that it really meant anything. Shouto was really quiet and serious, and he didn't seem to know what to say anymore. Natsuo figured it was his job to tease him a little so he could loosen up; it wasn't ever anything serious, just metaphorical poking, kinda like what Touya did when he wanted to wind Natsuo up.

Because all of them did their homework around each other he and Shouto could as questions when they had them, so Touya would drift back over to help them.

Natsuo looked over when one of Fu's timers went off, and she cut the heat on on of the pots. He glanced up at the clock and frowned.

"Touya, Dad's late," he announced at large, and his big brother scoffed, getting a sour look on his face.

"Dad's covering someone else's shift, Natsu," Fuyumi promised, smiling at him over her shoulder. Natsuo said "oh" and got back to work.

See, the thing is, Touya and Fuyumi usually talked to each other- they were both older and closer in age. They didn't want to talk to Natsuo about the bad stuff, the stuff that they thought he was still too little to understand. It was kind of annoying being kept out of the loop, but it was less annoying since they kept Shouto out of it too. At least he and Shou were in agreement about what was going on. Something was weird with Dad and it had Touya on edge. Fu hadn't liked it either, he mused, thinking to her shredded nails.

It anyone had bothered to ask Natsuo's opinion on the matter, not that anyone ever did, Natsuo would have told them confidently "who cares what caused it- he's better now."

Things were going good, he recognized. Dad didn't yell anymore. And now Shouto was around again. He'd even been moved to their wing of the house! It had been kind of funny to find Shouto wandering around the house looking for his stuff, too.

He frowned again,staring at his math homework, nearly finished.

It would be better if Mom was here...

He missed her so much. He knew everyone else did too.

But when he looked at the shiny scar on Shou's face...it made it hard.

"How was school, Shou?" he asked, trying to shake things up a bit. His little brother smiled a little.

"Fine. There's a field trip next month. I need Father to sign my permission slip."

"Give it to me after dinner Shouto, I'll give it to him." Fuyumi promised, straining the noodles at the sink. Shou nodded.

"What about friends, kiddo?" Touya drawled, resting his elbows on the table. Shouto just stared down at his workbook.

"I don't know," he admitted quietly, Natsuo noticed that he was picking at the table. Huh. "They stare at my face. And my hair." Oh. Yeah, that was something he could see little kids doing.

"Are they picking on you?" Touya demanded, whip sharp, cutting through the hesitation. Shouto shook his head hurriedly, flushing.

"No, they just...they ask. And I don't know what to say." He admitted, making Touya's eyes go soft.

It was kinda weird, how Touya had Dad's ultramarine eyes, but they were so much softer sometimes. But they still burned with the same intensity of his fire.

"You don't have to tell them shit, little brother." Touya snapped. "It's not their business, okay?"

Shou nodded and that was that, nothing more needed to be said.

Natsuo had to admit, it was nice being in the loop with Shou and being there to have his back.

* * *

Without Dad there they were all a little more relaxed. Big brother Touya in particular became a different person when it was just them. He came alive, he smiled, he told stupid jokes. Natsuo missed this version of him.

They all pitched in to do the dishes afterward, since Fuyumi was the one to cook. She usually drank tea and did her homework while they worked, that way she could keep an eye on them. Which was kinda dumb, they were boys, not babies.

But after dinner they all hung out in the living room to watch TV together, which was super cool.

They flipped through the channels, idly nudging and picking at each other, when they found the news channel.

**Breaking News: Flame Hero Endeavor Questioned for Excessive Force After Attempted Arrest Ends in Major Injury**

Fuyumi sucked in a breath and turned up the volume, they sat and listened, watching the flashing lights of the crime scene and the tell tale flaming figure in the background.

"Outcry is quickly rising against Endeavor when civilians caught his attempted capture of a suspect on camera. Witnesses report that when cornered, the suspect did attack Endeavor, however when the pro-hero retaliated with his signature fire quirk, the suspect was severely injured. The hospital has reported that 16 year old Takamatsu Reiji is in critical condition, and are unsure if he will survive the night." The newscaster reported, unsmiling. Beside her was a somber police officer who nodded along. "The video has been uploaded to the internet, and already there is a public outcry against the brute force used against someone so young."

"Records report that Takamatsu's quirk is the ability to shoot his fingernails at people." The reporter stifled a smile. "With me is Officer Matsui, who has been authorized to expand on the situation for us. Thank you, Officer."

"It's no problem, the department would like to clear things up for the public before they get out of hand."

"A fact they appreciate, no doubt. Can you tell us what exactly caused the injuries that are being labeled 'excessive'?"

The cop cleared his throat. "From what we can tell, Takamatsu had 5 canisters of spray paint in his backpack. As you know, aerosol cans are highly flammable, and well, once the fire made contact..." The reporter winced in understanding.

What followed were several witnesses, but no police officers, reporting what they'd seen.

"I mean, come on, that was a kid! And what'd he do-steal a f***in' purse? C'mon man, that isn't right!"

"He wasn't a villain!"

"I've got a son his age- I heard him screaming and, my God, I..." The woman started to cry.

Natsuo didn't understand.

"But he attacked Dad first, I mean-"

"It was excessive, but it was in self-defense..." Fuyumi agreed hesitantly. Touya didn't say anything, which said it all.

* * *

**So yeah, stuff's going on in this chapter!**

**Um, I was trying to kinda straddle the fence with this chapter. See, Enji's been using his house as his safety valve, right? And now he's not using it anymore. Where is gonna lash out? At work.**

**So Enji was defending himself, but unfortunately his temper made him brash. Could he have taken the kid on without the flames? Yes. Are people going to blow an accident like this out of proportion? Also yes.**

**Please comment and tell me what you think! I love to hear from you!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I've returned, I've got a new chapter, life is okay and I'm so sorry it took so long.**

The drama, rather than dying down, picks up speed the longer it goes on.

Enji has a strict "no comment" policy about rumors, and generally his people are fine with it. He doesn't cheat, he doesn't go out and drink or do drugs. Some of them have worked for heroes who couldn't say that. It took a week before his PR team finally had enough and Masushiro barged into his office.

Keiji Masushiro was a crocodile skinned man with a no nonsense attitude. Enji had respect for him insofar as he'd kept several property damage claims from going public and had never seemed to judge him for the volatility of his quirk. He'd been working for Enji for nearly 7 years and headed the PR team.

"You need to hold a press conference addressing this, Endeavor." Masushiro insisted firmly. "This isn't going to go away."

"I don't comment on nonsense."

Ironically the very footage that had condemned him had also saved him from a possible lawsuit. Like it or not, the boy had attacked first after committing a crime- Enji had been within his right to defend himself. But it wasn't going away, and now that 'excessive force' had been registered in the public's eye, more rumors were stirring.

No less than 3 women and a man had claimed to be his lover and/or had had his illegitimate children. At least one of the women had been believable enough to have been given a guest spot on some tabloid show,

"Enji," and that was rare, Masushiro daring to use his first name, "I know you don't like press conferences, but you need to comment and get a handle on this."

"It will blow over." He grunted, glaring the scaly man down. "You know I don't comment on rumors- all it does is give them depth."

"Enji I don't think you understand-"

"Masushiro," he interrupted, intent on cutting the argument short. Before it actually became an argument.

The man stared at his boss, closed his eyes and took a deep, deep breath.

"If you don't make a statement, Enji, then I'm quitting." He announced flatly, crossing his arms. The flat expression on his face, even discarding his scales.

Enji hung his head and released a breath. One more fuckup in the long road, huh?

"There's the door, Masushiro," he gestured.

"Since when do you quit?" The crocodile demanded, dropping pretense. Enji almost appreciated it. But the words were more irritating than comforting, they made him twitch.

"I don't quit." The fucking idea was offensive to him.

"That's what you seem to be doing right now- throwing in the towel."

"You have no idea-"

"I do, Enji. I know what the hell I'm talking about- people aren't going to be satisfied until they have an answer. You need to get in front of a camera, apologize for what you did, explain that you're sorry. You'll pay for th hospital bills, for any physical therapy the kid needs, and tell them that you'll be attending anger management-"

"I don't need anger management!" He snarled, fist slamming down onto the desk. Masushiro just looked at him.

"The more you ignore this the worse it will get. If you don't do this, Enji, then you're a fool and a coward. I don't work for two of those."

And then he was storming out of the office, slamming the door behind him hard enough to rattle the windows.

He had a headache coming on.

* * *

At some point later that day his phone started ringing. He'd nearly dismissed the call, but the ID tagged it as Rei's hospital. Dread filled him as he stared down at the glass. Fuck.

"Yes?"

"Is this Mr. Todoroki?"

"Speaking."

"Hello sir, this is Dr. Kurusu- I'm your wife's primary physician at the moment."

Enji took another deep breath and tried to calm down. It wasn't the doctor's fault that everything was going wrong. Or that he sounded like a prick.

"Yes, I know. I've been…busy, or I would've been to see you and discuss things in person sooner." A thought struck him, "I'm sorry, I had my secretary fax you those forms, did you not receive them?"

"No, no, we received them," the doctor assured, but Enji thought he could hear forced cheerfulness. "This is more to do with, well, this is awkward,"

"Is my wife alright?"

"Your wife is still recovering, but she's responding well to treatment. But it isn't about your wife exactly. You see…we've been getting phone calls."

Fuck.

"Phone calls?" He repeated, trying not to sound furious.

"Yes. Specifically, Mrs. Todoroki is the one receiving the calls. Or the attempted calls. Thankfully none have managed to trick their way to her private line, but…well…your wife's health is my highest priority, sir. And you have proven to be a major stressor for her." Now he knew he wasn't imagining the disapproval there. This wasn't good. Why the hell would they call Rei?

"I understand."

("The more you ignore this the worse it will get.")

Rei's broken, defeated expression flashed in front of his face.

If the press tracked down Rei, how long until they tried to corner the children?

* * *

Enji fucking hated press conferences. He hated the lights, the overexposure, the way that no one seemed to ask the right questions and always wanted to trip him up. He hated that he couldn't soften his expression into something softer than annoyed neutrality on the best of days, and how often somehow journalists seemed to focus on that more than anything.

But he had to put a stop to this as soon as possible. He'd spent days going over this with Masushiro- getting the words right, making sure that they sounded natural. This had to sound real because, on some level, it was real. This needed to be crushed underheel before it spread, and if pretending he felt guilty was the way to go then that was how things had to be.

He'd chosen to forgo notecards- also Masushiro's suggestion.

"Just because it is rehearsed doesn't mean that they need to know how much."

The room was quiet as he stepped up to the microphones. He wasn't wearing his costume, just a suit- he looked intimidating enough in that. He needed to look like a real person.

There was a brief second of panic where the words were out of reach as he stood there, mouth dry, flames flickering.

The kids were probably at home by now. Fuyumi would be watching at least, maybe Natsuo.

"I called this conference to address my actions several weeks ago." God, had it been that long? It all seemed like a nonstop whirlwind. He could see several of them scribbling as he spoke, probably in shorthand.

"On Wednesday night two weeks ago I was on patrol. Around 8 o'clock that night I heard a woman shout for help. Her purse had just been stolen and I pursued. I cornered the young man I later found out to be named Takamatsu Reiji and ordered him to stand down. His quirk, Launch, allowed him to fire his fingernails at me- all I knew was that something came at my face. I made the decision to use my own quirk on him. I admit that. If I had known that Takamatsu had spray paint in his bag I never would have done such a thing- a purse snatcher is a criminal, not a villain.

"I lost my temper, I got impatient. What I did was hasty and excessive use of force. I've already apologized to Takamatsu and my agency's insurance is paying for his medical bills and any physical therapy or surgery he will need.

"My attitude has of late been a problem for me, I'm aware of that now. I've been aware of it. But this is the first time it's ever involved my work and it will not happen again. I've decided to seek," he swallowed, trying to swallow the stone in his throat at the word, "counseling," and repressed a scowl. "That is my official statement. I am…willing to answer questions so long as they pertain to the topic of the incident."

They lit up and there was a sea of arm shooting up to signal the sea of voices shouting their qualifications.

"Yes, you, the woman with horns?" He pointed to a polite looking woman in a scarlet blouse.

"Thank you; Souta, with NSNews- did you think, at the time, that perhaps you were being too violent?" Ugh, rough, right out of the gate.

He thought about it, honestly, and had to shake his head no. "At the time I was more concerned with apprehending him than the means I was using."

The questions didn't get any better, to be honest, but they had expected that.

"Have you visited Takamatsu in the hospital?"

"His parents said they preferred I not be there."

"Why are you speaking on this now? What took so long?"

"In all honesty I didn't speak on it before because I didn't think it fair to Takamatsu that all of the details were public. But then several members of the press began to harass the hospital where my wife is currently seeking treatment, in the hopes of getting her statement."

"Why is your wife in the hospital?"

"That matter is private and has nothing to do with the issue at hand. Move on."

"Are you going to be taking a mental health leave while seeking counseling?"

"No. Counseling is not a one off- I was informed that trying to fit recovery and mental healing into a confined time frame is neither healthy nor feasible. I intend to improve myself, not make myself look good for the sake of my image."

"Several heroes have spoken out against your actions as well- do you have anything to say to them?"

He took a deep breath. It was like they were trying to set him off.

"No. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. And as I said before, I was out of line."

The questions went on and on, and by the time he finally felt that he'd said all he needed to say and given enough to the vultures, he felt bone deep exhausted.

As always when a press conference was over he felt his ears ring with the silence left after the constant chatter and the rising blood pressure. He took a minute to sit down and calm himself before he went home, and, feeling his phone vibrate, checked it.

**Fuyumi: We saw you on TV- you did good!**

He blinked.

**Me: You and Natsuo?**

**Fuyumi: All of us.**

He could only imagine the scathing commentary by Touya.

He scrolled up a bit and found an unread message that she'd sent before he'd stepped out, and against himself, almost smiled.

**Fuyumi: Good luck Dad!**

He…really didn't deserve her.

**Me: It's late, you and your brothers should get to bed. I'll be home soon.**

She didn't respond.

* * *

By the time he finally got home it was nearly midnight and he needed a drink. He hung up his coat toed off his shoes and wandered the house idly. It was quiet.

But Touya was in his office.

His oldest, almost perfect, almost favorite.

The shiny burns on his arms made Enji want to look away, as always.

Well, at least he wasn't in the whiskey again.

"You're still up." He commented idly.

Being around Touya was like walking on razor wire- you'd cut your feet and lash out, guaranteed. Or maybe the boy was only that way with him.

Touya slouched in his chair, blue eyes- Enji's eyes- trained on his father.

"We saw you tonight." He informed, crossing his arms.

"Fuyumi told me." He agreed, pouring himself a drink. Just a finger or two.

"Nice words. Did you write them or your press agent?"

Just stay calm. He couldn't lose his temper, Touya just wanted to push the envelope.

He'd seen how the kids had been tip-toeing around him, unsure after the way the drama with Takamatsu had blown up. It had honestly made him more angry; didn't they see him trying to change? Why couldn't they just accept it?

"We worked on it together." He confirmed, sitting down behind his desk.

Touya nodded, sucking in his bottom lip. "The counseling? Stroke of genius."

There was the heart of the matter, he guessed.

"It wasn't a lie."

Watching the disinterested, calculating look morph into rage was like watching a reflection of himself on Rei's face- he wasn't sure that he liked it.

"What game are you playing, old man?" Touya snarled, gripping the chair. The muscles on his neck were tightened, and Enji saw the darkened bags under his eyes. Hadn't he been sleeping?

"This isn't a game, Touya. I want to be better."

"That's what it all comes back to- Endeavor becoming #1." He spat with derision. "This is all part of some new fucking-"

"Watch your mouth!"

"Fuck you!" Flames licked at Touya's fingers for a moment before flickering out again, but the new bright red of the digits couldn't be denied.

"I am attending counseling to get better control of myself and my temper. Would you like me to schedule you an appointment as well?" The words were out before Enji could even process that he said them. And for a moment, he thought his son would attack him.

Instead Touya snarled wordlessly and stormed out; out of the office, out of the house, away from him.

Enji let him go.

* * *

**So yeah, Enji is clearly still working on it. He's got this guilt thing going on with Touya- it's not pretty, and certainly Touya has beef with him that's justified.**


	6. Chapter 6

Enji's first appointment with Doctor Nakama is mostly him verifying insurance information and clarifying what he'd meant on the paperwork. He's a little surprised that the first visit is so normal, but explaining all the boxes he's filled in is…exhausting.

"Now, you ticked off anger management?"

"Yes. I need…to learn to get a handle on my temper, and find better ways of defusing it."

Nakama is a tall, thin woman with a slightly flat nose and antennae. She's specially trained to deal with pro-heroes, has a no-nonsense attitude and is one of the doctors on the Hero Commission's call when they need to make sure either a suspect or a hero is stable/

"How do you defuse it now?"

For this to work he needed to be honest.

"I didn't." He admits, feeling small.

She doesn't say anything but she does write it down before continuing with her question. "What made you decide to make this change?"

"You didn't hear about my scandal?" There was a shock. But Nakama shrugs and crosses one leg over the other.

"Say I don't watch the news."

"I hurt a suspect I was pursuing. Badly. He was carrying aerosol cans, and my flames…" He shrugs.

"But this hasn't happened before?"

"No."

"In all your years of pro-hero work you've never had an incident like this. You said you don't have a way to defuse."

The office smells like vanilla. He can see an oil diffuser on her desk. The whole office is surprisingly personal, and it makes Enji feel a little suffocated.

"I did not have a way to cope with my anger." He repeats, trying not to grit his teeth.

Nakama presses her lips together and writes something else down.

The first appointment presses on, and it stays mostly professional until the end.

"How did your family react to the knowledge you were getting counselling?"

He thinks of Touya.

"Badly."

She closes her notes and shifts her weight, leaning forward. "What do you mean?"

Enji tries to find the words.

"I announced that I was getting counselling in a press conference. After the incident at work. My oldest boy, Touya, he…I got home and he thought I was joking. When he learned I was telling the truth he got a lot more hostile. I said some things he took the wrong way, and he left."

"How old is Touya?"

"14."

"What time did he come back home?"

"I'm…unsure."

Enji had stayed up to wait for him, to…say something and try and ease some of the friction, or at least sit down and have a discussion the way two adults did. Touya was too old to throw fits like these anymore. But morning came and the rest of the house woke up.

No one had batted an eye that Touya was gone, which was concerning. How often was the boy gone?

Fuyumi had made breakfast and made sure that Shouto and Natsuo were ready for school, and then they were gone. Enji had finished his coffee, loaded the sink for the maid, then left for work.

He'd worked late that night, gotten home and gone straight to bed.

Touya had been there when he'd woken up the morning after, but his son wouldn't even look at him, and the desire to talk had crystallized. Too much time had passed to make any difference.

"Alright, I think I have what I need." Nakama announces, pulling Enji from introspection.

"And?" He hoped it wasn't medication.

"I don't think you're telling me everything," she says, throwing him for a loop. "A lot of what you're telling me is automatic. But what you aren't telling me has me concerned. I think you have trouble communicating and more trouble putting your trust in people. I hope that will change, because for any kind of mental health counselling honesty, trust and communication are fundamental. I'm not going to lie to you- you do need counselling. Frankly I believe you've needed it for a long time. But I'm going to try to help you. Now, please check in with the front desk before you leave, Mr. Todoroki, and Anzu will help you set up an appointment."

Enji didn't move but his body did.

He felt small, and humbled and angry that this stranger saw through him without effort, past all the walls, and saw nothing wrong with tearing them down.

'Anzu' informed him that she'd already contact his secretary at the Agency and had his appointment schedule ironed out. But if he wanted to take a look to be sure he was more than welcome.

"No, my secretary has it handled."

If he sounded strange she didn't react, just wished him a good day.

Trust was a foreign concept to Enji.

In his line of work, trust only went so far when you were trying to climb to the top of the mountain. Trust meant nothing.

Enji trusted Rei to produce the strongest quirk with him and she had shirked her duties 3 times before getting it right.

Enji trusted his hard work and skill would win people over more than posturing and false humility, and the he would be number one.

He trusted Rei to take care of their children, and she'd hurt Shouto.

Enji had dozens of scars from trust- trust that his partners would watch his back, that his sidekicks would pay attention, that the foolish wouldn't try and use _him_ as a stepping stone.

Once at a party a drunken hero had slurred at him that "_everyone wants your spot since no one c'n touch All Might." _He'd walked away from the violence that stirred at that comment, no matter how much it killed him, because the hero had been right. All Might was a God, and Endeavor was a man. Which was easier to kill?

The traffic gave him time to think, but it also gave him time to get angry.

By the time he walked in the door his skin was itchy.

At first he couldn't find the children, the anger gave way to concern.

The children of pro-heroes were in dangerous positions. Small fry wouldn't dare harm them, but the big villains? The ones that had nothing to lose but one more life sentence in Tartarus on top of another 6? They were bold.

Enji walked the house, resisting the urge to call out.

Nothing had happened, he told himself, glancing at the clock. There were no signs of violence, nothing burning, nothing frozen. He was just early. His children wouldn't have gone down without a fight-

He heard voices on the back porch and swallowed his heart gratefully as he approached.

Fuyumi and Natsuo were sitting on the porch, doing homework in the golden light of the late afternoon. In the yard, Touya was with Shouto, showing him how to catch and bounce a soccerball off his foot.

"It's all about balance, Shou." Touya promised, demonstrating. He was on one foot, bouncing the ball on the other and looking like he'd done it a thousand times. Shouto was looking at him like he'd hung the moon.

(_When was the last time any of your children looked at you like that?_ Something ugly and jealous snarled.

_Fuyumi_-

No. Fuyumi looked at him like he was a bomb about to go off that she had to diffuse.)

The urge to call out to them, to take Shouto to the dojo and train was overwhelming, the words on his tongue.

But he couldn't do it.

He just watched for a minute.

Touya showed off for his brothers and sister, earning their 'oohs' and 'aahs' and tiny applause.

When did he learn to do this?

A memory came to him, unbidden.

_"I don't wanna be a hero! I wanna play soccer!" Blue eyes filled with angry tears as he clung to the door way._

_"You will train, Touya!"_

He hadn't gone easy on him that day.

Enji went back inside and took a shower, trying not to think.


	7. Chapter 7

Shouto sat in a hallway behind a door labeled 'Employees Only' and tried not to feel sick. He was pretty sure that his hands were shaking. On either side of him, several seats away, were the others, also waiting. Deku, he thought, looked just as scared as he must feel, while the other boy looked more angry than afraid.

This was very bad.

The skin around his eye began to itch. He might have scratched it, but the Doctor, Fuyumi, Touya and even Father, had all told him not to. Besides, touching the skin there made it feel tingly.

He watched the clock on the wall tick, and wondered how long it would take.

A few teachers had stayed behind to make sure everything got straightened out.

The blond glared at Shouto. "This is your fault you fuckin teacher's pet."

Shouto scowled but didn't say anything back.

If anything, he thought privately, it was an even split.

* * *

The invisible barrier between Shouto Todoroki and his peers had never been more apparent than when Ito sensei asked everyone to pair up to be "field trip budies". It felt like a signal had been given because in a flash everyone had snapped each other up. All except for Shouto.

Odd numbers were, as Touya would say when Fuyumi wasn't around to censor him, a bitch.

"Would anyone like a third member of their group?"

Shouto felt a numb sort of horror as no one looked up at him or Sensei. He wished the ground would swallow him whole.

Ito sensei sighed and patted Shouto on the shoulder. "Well then, Todoroki-kun, I'll be your field trip buddy."

Shouto was 'socially stunted', as Itsuka Sensei said in the teacher's lounge, but even he knew that having a teacher be your partner wasn't cool. But more than that, he found out as the day dragged on, it wasn't even fun. Sensei was busy organizing everyone and trying to make sure that everybody stayed in the group and didn't get left behind, while also trying to keep them on schedule and from being too rowdy. So, Sensei wasn't really a 'buddy'.

The field trip was to the local museum- it had surprisingly varied content, mostly focusing on science but with a large section of history; Shouto really liked the dinosaur skeletons.

Another school was on a field trip as well, Shouto observed. There were kids swarming everywhere, all in casual clothes instead of the uniforms of a private academy. The only way Shouto even knew that they were all from the same school was because of matching stickers they all had on their shirts, proclaiming their school, class and name.

It was an okay trip, really, it just dragged on without a friend to talk to and get excited with. Sensei was too busy to really be much fun, and Shouto understood. He was nice though, and he did try to check in with him when he had time.

But for the most part Shouto was alone.

It wasn't a surprise, just disappointing.

Watching his classmates laugh and talk to each other, while Shouto was stuck basically on his own, made the skin around his eye itch with embarrassment. He wished that he'd lost the eye, then he'd have a good excuse to wear an eyepatch. There were some cute ones. He'd found the pamphlet in Father's office. If he had an eyepatch nobody would stare or ask questions, and they might even think it was cool.

Shouto wasn't cool.

He ate his lunch at a crowded table and listened to the conversation flow around him. Fuyumi said he should try to engage, but…how did you do that? Was there a space to talk that he kept missing? Wasn't it bad manners to interrupt like that? He just didn't know.

There were lots of rules that came with talking to people that Shouto didn't understand. He was the only one to bring a lunch from home, and he saw the way some of the boys snickered. Fuyumi had given him some extra money just in case he wanted to buy lunch instead, but then the food would be wasted, and Fuyumi had made it for him.

It was all so confusing.

At the end of the trip it was time to go to the gift shop. Shouto was dismayed at how crowded it was; it seemed that the other school was in there as well.

Everything was expensive and stupidly fragile looking. Originally he'd wanted to get a gift for everyone, but he didn't have enough money to do that. It was disappointing. In the end Shouto settled for a magnet- that way they could put it on the fridge, so it was sort of like a gift for everybody. A crappy gift, but a gift.

Everyone else was cramming around the toys, and Sensei was busy trying to organize everybody. It was too crowded, so Shouto stepped outside the giftshop to wait.

There was a group of boys from the other school out already, their purchases in hand. They were examining and comparing and playfighting. One of them had wings.

It wasn't until the smaller boy got shoved that Shouto realized something was wrong.

"Kacchan give it back!" The smaller boy shouted, getting back up. He was red in the face and he looked like he was trying not to cry. He had an All-Might backpack.

The other boy held his purchase- it looked like a notebook- away from him and grinned. "What're you gonna do, Deku! Cry at me!"

Shouto watched the display and felt his eye itch. He glanced behind him, but the teachers were still in the store. Why wasn't anyone saying anything?

'Deku' tried to take the notebook back, but 'Kacchan' made a small spark with his palms- it sounded and looked like a small firecracker. The problem was that as he set it off, he shoved at 'Deku'. 'Deku' who yelped and stumbled back, palms slapping at his chest.

"Loser!" One of the other boys sneered.

Shouto felt cold all over, but it didn't stop him from walking over. His knees didn't even tremble.

"Who're you?" Kacchan sniffed. "Your hair looks stupid."

"It's not nice to pick on people. And it's illegal to use your quirk like that." Shouto said quietly. Kacchan sniffed and glared at him.

"Yeah? What're you gonna do, teacher's pet?" He flicked the breast of Shouto's uniform, and sneered, "you go to that fancy school, don't you?"

"I go to Pola Matzis, yes."

"So what, you think you can come over here and boss us around? Who do you think you are?" Kacchan is nearly nose to nose with him and practically spitting fire.

Shouto's a little confused- why does his school make a difference?

But the other boy steps out from behind Shouto, all hunched up like he's bracing himself for another blow, and that alone makes Shouto stand his ground.

"It's okay," he says, smiling uncertainly up at Shouto. "We were just playing."

No you weren't, he wants to say.

"No, you weren't." He said, looking back at the blonde boy. "You were bullying him."

Kacchan puffed up like a bird at that, and to Shout's surprise actually shoved him. If Father were here and had seen, Shouto would have been punished and made to run drills. It was only the surprise that threw him off. It wouldn't happen again.

"Do not touch me." He said. Frost crept up his hand.

I can't use fire here. It's not safe. He thought distantly. Fire was for home, where they had safety measures.

"Or what? What're you gonna do?"

Deku was the one to cut in again, looking desperate but determined. "Kacchan, stop! He doesn't even go to our school, you can't just start trouble with-"

"Shut up Deku!" And then he set off his palms again. The flinch that Deku gave had Shouto moving before Kacchan could stop him, shoving him in the chest, hard enough to send him sprawling on the ground, rather than just upset his balance.

Deku made an 'o' with his mouth and went white with fear, but Kacchan was up in a moment and screaming.

Where were the teachers?

One thing was for sure- Kacchan didn't mind fighting and he didn't back down, even with Deku trying to pull him away from Shouto. There was the sting of sparks on his skin, singing through his uniform, but Shouto was used to heat. Kacchan was not used to the cold.

By the time that museum security stepped in, everybody was burned, frosted and bruised.

* * *

Because it was a public incident involving kids from different schools everyone's parents had to come, and the police had to be notified because of the quirk usage.

Shouto wasn't scared of the police.

All that meant was a stern talking to.

But Father?

They had to call him at work to come here. Because Shouto was a disappointment.

He felt like he was going to be sick.

Deku sniffled weakly at his side and said "I'm really sorry you're in trouble."

"It's okay." He murmured back.

Were they supposed to be quiet? Ito-sensei just said to sit there and not move.

"My name's Izuku." And Shouto squinted at him in confusion.

"Izuku- not Deku?"

Dek- no, Izuku shook his head no. "Kacchan just calls me that, because, um of how my name is spelled." He explained.

Useless

They'd been calling him Useless. Shouto had called him Useless.

"That's not right. He shouldn't call you that." Shouto said quietly. He wanted to kick his legs a bit, but he was too old for that now.

Izuku didn't say anything else for a minute.

"My name's Shouto Todoroki."

"Nice to meet you, Shouto."

And both of them started giggling.


End file.
